


Bourrée Anglaise

by Souhthisismyusernameguys



Category: The Good Wife (TV)
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-10
Updated: 2014-05-10
Packaged: 2018-01-24 04:40:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1591988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Souhthisismyusernameguys/pseuds/Souhthisismyusernameguys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in Season 4. Peter realizes someone else knows about an affair, and tells Eli. Eli has to take care of it. -in progress-</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bourrée Anglaise

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all, I'm new here!  
> This is a Good Wife fanfiction.  
> My name is Shellby. :)  
> This fanfiction has an OC in it. Before you complain, it's pretty much necessary for this story.  
> Her name is Ella Middles. She's a flute player. I know, Eli/Ella. It was totally not on purpose. I've used her before. It just worked out that way.  
> This is set in Season 4, close to the end of the gubernatorial race.
> 
>  
> 
> -another quick note, my formatting is not how I meant for it to be, so I'm sorry if you get a little confused. Forgive me, I'm trying to get better on here.

All Peter knew was where he had met the girl. He hadn’t a clue what her name was, where she worked, where she lived, or even if his description could be accurate. Mr. Florrick was leaving the States Attorney’s office one night with a ‘liaison’, you could say, when a woman came up to him to ask him a simple question.

“Excuse me, sir, my phone’s battery just died, could you tell me the time?”

She looked barely out of high school, maybe in college, and had a very friendly smile. It was because of this smile that Peter didn’t have a second thought about hiding who he was with, or his own identity. She could have been with the press for all he knew. He smiled a very political smile back at her and pulled his arm up to reveal his Rolex watch. With a swift glance he answered.

“Of course, it’s 9:04, exactly. Do you need a phone to use? My office is right there, I could let you in for a moment.”

Peter wasn’t a terrible person; he was just terrible at making decisions. He was too passionate. In any case, the young woman shook her head politely. Her friendly, inviting smile was still gracing her face.

“No, thank you very much. I’m actually not far from where I live. I appreciate it. I hope you and your wife have a nice night.” The young woman stole a look at the woman with Peter.

And that was it. Until last night Peter Florrick had completely forgotten about that girl. It was something Eli had said.

“As long as any more scandals don’t appear in the next 3 weeks, Peter, you’ll win. There’s nothing you forgot to tell me, right?”

There was no contest between Peter Florrick and Maddie Hayward in the race at the moment. Peter was up almost 8 points. Unless it was revealed that Peter had another scandal, he would win against Maddie the anti-male pro-atheism candidate. Ever since Kristeva was knocked out of the race things had only gotten better. It was rough and tumble for a bit but all had been resolved.

Without any doubt Peter had immediately replied, “No, of course not.”

Then, in the middle of the night Peter awoke. The question came to the forefront of his mind.

“Could you tell me the time?”

The next morning was when he went to his campaign headquarters, straight to Eli Gold.

“Eli, there’s something I have to tell you.”

“Yeah, yeah, Peter, come in. Just a second.” Eli waved Peter into his office. He was finishing up another obligated call to Jackie, Peter’s insistent mother. “Yes, Jackie, of course. Things are going great. Your son has nothing to worry about. Yes, I’ll call you if you can help. Fine, talk to the women at your debutante whatever it is. Jackie, I have to go. Yes, goodbye.”

Peter smiled softly at Eli. Eli raised his eyebrows. He knew that smile. It meant bad things, bad things for this campaign.

“Let me down gently, will you?”

“There’s a chance someone knows about another… affair.”

Eli ran his hands frantically through his greying hair. Peter Florrick was going to be the death of him, and he wasn’t sure if it would be by his own hands or an aneurism. He took a sharp, deep breath as he looked straight into Peter’s eyes.

“What did you just say? Please, say that again. Just one more time.” Eli said with a calm, venomous air.

“I know, Eli, I-“

“Just say it again, Peter.”

Peter sighed, “Someone might know about another affair.”

It took everything in Eli to not throw the entirety of his desk onto the floor. He knew that everyone in the office could see him. Eli took one last, dragging breath before asking one final question.

“Who?”

Peter smiled the telling smile again. Eli groaned. 

“How do you not know? What do you know?” Eli said. He was at a loss for now.

 

It may have been only 9:30 am on a Wednesday, but Kalinda didn’t care. She swirled the alcohol in her glass slowly, watching the melting ice mix in. There weren’t many people in the bar at the moment, and that was how she liked it. Isolated, or as damn near close as she could get it. Will was getting suspicious of her interested other job offer, reading in a little too far. She wouldn’t normally be here this early or even during the week, but wherever Will wasn’t was where Kalinda liked to be.

That’s when Kalinda’s phone rang.

“Yeah.” Kalinda said, voice full of boredom.

“My name is Eli Gold. I need something from you.” The other side of the phone crackled. Her interest was piqued.

“What makes you think I’ll help you?” Kalinda said, eyes rolling. She hadn’t liked working for him at Lockhart/Gardner, and she didn’t plan on it now.

“Peter Florrick.”

Her stomach dropped. She began to drag herself off of her seat. Slowly, she composed herself.

“What is it?” Kalinda asked carefully, trying not to sound eager or worried.

“Find someone for me.”

“Okay, what’s the name?” She took out a pen and started to write on a cocktail napkin.

Eli paused some time before answering. “That’s the problem.”

All Kalinda could think was, ‘You’re kidding me.’

 

Kalinda walked with a purpose. She was this close to getting the girl’s name. She had gone around asking everyone within almost a mile radius of the States Attorney’s office if they recognized anyone of the description she had.

“I’m looking for somebody. She’s young, maybe 19 to 23, about five foot six or seven, red brown hair, maybe green eyes, lives around here?”

The amount of times somebody asked if she had a picture was rising, and it was really getting on her nerves. Why would she bother to give a physical description if she had a picture? Some people could be so dull. Besides, knowing that Peter Florrick was somehow behind this really had Kalinda on edge. Whatever he was up to, she didn’t want much to do with it. Kalinda felt like she could never escape from it. Even though her husband had supposedly left for good, she always felt there was a chance.

After asking dozens of people, many giving blank stares or leading her on wild goose chases, somebody came through.

“Red brown hair, young? Yeah, I think I know who that is. She lives around the corner. She comes by here every day.” A man said, watering his tiny patch of grass that could barely pass for a front yard in Chicago.

“Can I have a name?” Kalinda growled, agitated. ‘Get to the point.’ She often thought to herself.

“Yeah, sure, her name is Ella Middles. She’s in the apartments with the sidewalk chalk outside of them.” The man said, furrowing his brow. As Kalinda walked away he (loudly) muttered to himself a heartfelt, “Bitch.”

Kalinda only smiled. She pulled out her cellphone and hit redial. She barely heard it connect before she interrupted the person who answered.

“Found her.”

“Great! What’s her-“

With one click she let the call end. Kalinda had worked for Eli previously without any reservations and without any grudges. But damn it if she couldn’t make him sweat a little. The private investigator entered the nearest bar to wait it out.

 

Eli’s phone beeped a few times before the line went dead. He squeezed his phone hard in his hand, taking yet another deep breath. He ran his hands through his hair and sighed.

“These damned politicians have been making me go grey for years.” Eli said to himself, turning towards the door of his office. “I swear, I’m going to get him castrated-“

Eli stopped mid-sentence as he saw who was in the room.

“I’ll be certain to never make you mad, Mr. Gold.” A well-dressed blonde man said with an easy grin on his face.

Eli let himself chuckle a little, walking towards the stranger. His own smile slowly faded, “Who are you, why are you in my office?”

“It’s nice to meet you, too. My name is Cary Agos. I work at Lockhart/Gardner with Alicia Florrick.” Cary said, holding out his hand. 

Eli looked at it suspiciously, not offering his own. He remained silent.

“Okay.” Cary smiled, “I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m here.”

“I did already ask you that.”

“I’m looking for Peter, actually. Someone told me to check with you where he might be.” Cary glanced around.

Eli furrowed his brows at Cary. He thought for a second.

“Peter is-“ Eli started to answer before his desk phone began to ring. Without excusing himself from Mr. Agos, he answered the phone.

“Kalinda?” Eli hissed. Clearly unsatisfied with who was on the other line, Mr. Gold hung up the receiver.

Cary cleared his throat. “I’ll just come back.”

“You do that.”

“Kalinda?” Cary said to himself as he left Peter Florrick’s campaign headquarters. Now Cary had a new mission, and he was positive it was something that could help him in the partner track or with future jobs. Where there was Kalinda, there was a scandal to be discovered.

If anything, it gave him an excuse to talk to her. This elicited a private smile from Cary. She was a conundrum. He got in his car and called her. She answered after three rings.

“Hello, Cary.”

He almost shivered. He was glad she couldn’t see what she did to him. Cary swallowed hard and cleared his throat.

“I was hoping you could help me with something.”

“The last person who said that is already regretting it.”

“I think what I need help with involves that person. Eli Gold? Do you know him?”

The line was quiet for a moment. Then suddenly, “I can’t help you.”

“Kalinda-“

“I’m sorry. I can’t.” True to her reputation, Kalinda hung up quickly.

Cary was starting to realize how hard it was to deal with Kalinda. She was mysterious and stubborn. If she made up her mind, it wasn’t going to be changed. Not easily. Cary knew he was going to find out why Eli and Kalinda were in contact, he just wasn’t sure how. 

 

Eli Gold was furious. He had one job in which he was required to make his politicians look good for campaigns. He was very, very good at his job. When someone put him in danger of not being very, very good at his job, he was very, very unhappy. Normally he couldn’t give a damn if someone committed adultery, it wasn’t his life. Right now he cared about what Peter had done. It made Eli look bad.

However, Eli Gold’s current fury was focused on Kalinda Sharma. She was the reason he couldn’t do what he was paid to do. Knowing that Kalinda had found the girl but not knowing her name was adding to the fire. Eli resorted to calling Kalinda every three minutes until she decided to answer. 

He had his hands wrapped around his phone, finger stuck on redial. This had to be resolved now. The 9th time Eli Gold called he was sent after a few rings to voicemail. 

Immediately after the beep, Eli hissed, “Kalinda, if you do not call me back, so help me, I am going to have a brain hemorrhage. I will make sure they know it was your fault.”

After four calls and almost calling Peter six times, Eli finally heard from Kalinda. Through an assistant. 

Eli was pacing in his office when a random assistant came in and silently handed him a stack of post-it notes. Seeing as this was a relatively normal occurrence, Eli almost threw the stack on his desk for later. But as he glanced down, he saw the message on the top. It read:

Kalinda: Ella Middles

“Ella Middles, I don’t know who you are or what you know, but I could kiss you.”

The fury melted away. Eli Gold somehow felt accomplished; despite the fact he had almost nothing to do with it. When Eli felt accomplished he was happy. Even Kalinda’s snarky way of getting him the name didn’t matter. He had the name now, and his job could be done. He didn’t even care if he had to find out where this girl lived by himself, which he decided he would do just because of his sudden good mood.

Four Google searches and a frantic assistant later, Eli had her address. From the 2nd Google search he had also discovered in an article that Ella had a performance at a theatre not too far from the campaign’s next stop. The times were identical as well, in a little over an hour.

If Eli was smooth, he could tackle this issue at the moment Peter spent his time fraternizing with the most recent social group, MACC: The Moms Against Cyber-bulling Coalition. As much as Alicia had helped the suburban mom group in polling, Peter could still use some help against Maddie Hayward and Mike Kristeva. Eli was also willing to take any opportunity to not be hit on by aging divorcees.

Ella was performing for the third time this month in a series of auditions. This was the last set of callbacks for one of the most prestigious orchestras in Chicago. She played the flute beautifully and was now officially in, that was apparent, but her chair had yet to be chosen. It was between Ella and another flautist she had met just last week for first chair.

The other girl could play, and play well. Her only fault was her stage presence. Ella was almost shocked the girl had made it this far. She would slouch standing, hold her flute 15 degrees too far down and she never held her head up. She even cradled her flute close to her shoulder. Every flautist could recognize this as a trait of a beginner. Everyone grew out of it.

Although Ella was a humble girl, she was confident she didn’t have any competition here. Bad habits like that slouch cannot be broken. It was Ella’s turn on stage, and she walked on with a purpose. She projected herself as proud and as eloquent as she could. Then, she raised her flute and began to play.

Eli walked into the theatre just before Ella performed. He chose a seat in the second row near the center. He sat down as a homely girl walked off stage, seemingly ashamed or just plain tired. Ways to help her public appearance raced through his head. From the theatre’s website Eli already knew what Ella looked like, and yet he immediately wondered if that scrunched up girl was her.

Then Ella really did walk onto stage. Eli’s attention was had. She was playing “Bourrée anglaise” from Partita in A minor by Bach. Eli was enthralled. The only way he could ever relax was listening to classical music. Johann Sebastian Bach was a personal favorite of his. And flutes, Eli really liked flutes. Flutes were so soft and flowing, pouring out emotion with every breath the musician took.

Eli watched her intensely. The girl, Ella, stood up incredibly straight. It wasn’t so straight that it looked unnatural, though. It looked professional. She held her flute delicately at a soft angle, her fingers floating against the keys. Ella’s lips were pursed gently with the notes. When the emotion of the music changed, Ella’s demeanor did, too. It was in her posture, in her movements.

Eli knew from previous experience that flautists could be very showy. They tend to move too much with the music. He had been to orchestras where it was nauseating to glance at the woodwinds. There was a balance between feeling the music flow through you and throwing the music through you. He decided there was a perfect way to describe Ella’s flute playing: sweet and engaging.

The piece was over before Eli knew it, and a man in the front row was calling out to Ella. He must have been a judge of some sort, because Ella walked to the front of the stage to hear him better. She put a hand to her ear and leaned in towards him. Eli could not quite make out what he had said, and watched as the man stood up to hand Ella a sheet or two of paper. She smiled gently before walking back to her stand and raising her flute.

A series of chirping sounds immediately flew from Ella’s flute. The song sounded frantic and very familiar. However, Eli definitely did not recognize the music. He couldn’t even decide if he liked how it sounded. He closed his eyes to think.

Birds. It was birds! 

Before Eli knew it, the song was over. Ella walked off stage, shook the hand of the mystery man in the front row, and headed for the door. Eli frantically gathered himself and followed. Luckily, he caught her just before she opened the door.

“Excuse me, let me get the door for you.” Eli called to her, reaching just over her to do so. She smiled brightly. Her smile was intimate, and Eli tried to not beam back at her.

“Thank you, sir. Walk me to my car?” Ella asked, walking out. She paused on the other side waiting for him to join her. Eli quickly complied.

“Did you see my performance?” Ella asked politely. She was still holding her flute, which was a little curious. She began to walk and Eli joined her.

“Yes, Bach, was it?” Eli feigned a little ignorance, hoping he could manage not coming off as pompous.

Ella nodded again without saying anything. Her smile was still on her face, but more gentle.

“I thought so. However, I couldn’t recognize that second piece.” Eli furrowed his brows.

“It’s called ‘Aviary’. It’s the tenth or so movement of a much larger performance. It was written as a joke, actually. The composer only let it be performed around twice while he was alive.”

“Aviary.” Eli sighed in understanding, “That’s why it sounded like birds.”

Ella stopped in front of a dark red car. She unlocked the passenger side and pulled out her flute case. As she took her flute apart, she turned to Eli.

“My name is Ella Middles.” She said, the smile returning.

Eli offered his hand, “Eli Gold, it’s wonderful to meet you, Ella.”

Ella took his hand, “Likewise. Eli and Ella, huh? We sound like a bad sitcom or a children’s novel.”

Eli couldn’t help but laugh in return. He had mostly forgotten why he was talking to Ella until she turned away again to place her flute in her car. Now he had to find a way to mention Peter casually in conversation.

“I hope this isn’t too forward, but are you busy right about now?"


End file.
